HATCH FAMILY FOLKLORE

Hatch Family Folklore

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Forgiven Debts

TOLD BY A CHILD
OF ALMA ZEMIRA PALMER AND ALZADA SOPHIA KARTCHNER
Alma Zemira Palmer Alma Zemira Palmer built the first log house and a fireplace with the first brick chimney in Snowflake, Ariz. He lived near Snowflake for 18 years. He and Mark Kartchner started a store; after many years Alma went into business for himself. In 1895 he settled in Taylor, three miles south, where he built an adobe store and later a brick one, a lovely large brick home, and a fine barn. Alma also did farming and cattle raising. Here they had the finest orchard in town and they, their descendants and neighbors spent many happy hours enjoying the fine fruit.
There were many opportunities for him to take advantage of others and many were in debt to him, but never did such a thought enter his mind. When his daughter Rose worked in the store, he showed her the outstanding accounts and said, "We will never collect these debts." Then he said, "The candy is for the children, give them a good helping. I do not intend to make a profit on it. Give people full measure for their money." He was continually doing kind things for others. During an outbreak of typhoid fever he kept several families supplied with food, medicine, and other necesities throughout the summer. ... He helped each of his children as he or she married, giving them horses, wagons, land, etc. Alma had the confidence of the Indian people also because he gave them as much for their money as he did the white people. They trusted him. It is said he did more for the town of Taylor than any other man, and a plaque was presented by the citizens of Taylor in memory of him (From Descendants of George Palmer and Phoebe Draper Palmer Brown, pps. 458-59).

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INDEX OF STORIES

The Tragedy of Katie Hatch
Phoenix Gazette article summarizes the search for Katie Lavora Hatch, daughter of John Hatch and Mary Jane Standifird.

Sister's Account of the Search
Katie’s sister, Mary Jane Hatch, 11 years old at the time, recalls the tragedy in the White Mountains.

Neighbor's Account of the Search
A resident in the area recalls the search in the White Mountains for Katie Lavora Hatch.

Young Runaways
John Henry Standifird describes the time he ran away from home with his cousin and tried to find work on the Mississippi River.

Comfort from a Spirit
Lorenzo Hill Hatch describes a vision of his late wife, Alice Hanson.

Death and Back in Arizona
John Hatch enters the Spirit World but is ordered back to mortality following the prayer of his 8-year-old boy.

Called by a Prophet
"There is your patriarch," President Joseph F. Smith says. (Story of John Hatch as told by his son, George Phineous Hatch.)

Separate Ways
Alma Zemira Palmer kicks the nicotine habit.

First Sight
"I'm going to marry her some day," Alma Zemira Palmer says, upon seeing Alzada Sophia Kartchner.

Forgiven Debts
Alma Zemira Palmer shows generosity to his store customers and teaches his daughter Rose a lesson by example.

Misdirected Love Letter
Lovesick Zemira Palmer crafts a love letter for young Sally Knight, only gets her name wrong and sends the letter by mistake to her cousin.

Possessed by a Devil
Newel Knight has a devil exorcised from his body and later testifies of the miracle during a mock trial of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Vigil with a Prophet
Newel Knight spends a night in prayer with the Prophet Joseph Smith as the two struggle with a crisis in the young Church.

Borrowed Wagon
The Prophet Joseph Smith takes possession of the Golden Plates using the wagon of his house guest, Joseph Knight Sr.

Basketball Star
George Phineous Hatch gets the hot hand and leads Snowflake High School to a rout of St. John's.

White Fang
A hungry wolf -- or just a snow-covered stump. George Palmer Jr. finds out.

Halloween Magic
A Halloween superstition leads to marriage for Rebecca Jane Finch and a stranger boarding at her father's hotel.

No More Crutches
After using crutches for 13 years, elderly Elizabeth Haight is healed following her baptism.

Sealed in an urn
Margaret Jane Casteel refuses to have her dead 2-year-old son buried in the desert away from civilization.

Called to a Desert
"... If the wagon had fallen, all on earth I possessed would have gone into the Colorado River some 300 feet below except the bull whip in my hand." (The Palmers and Kartchners move to Arizona.)

Surprised in Church
George Phineous Hatch surprises his wife, Dora, by naming their 11th child Quola Mae.